


On the Outside

by rhodrymavelyne



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:47:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29519679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhodrymavelyne/pseuds/rhodrymavelyne
Summary: No matter how close he gets to the fire, Dr. Frederick Chilton is never part of the inner circle he perceives, yet remains outside.
Relationships: Dr. Frederick Chilton/Francis Dolarhyde
Kudos: 6





	On the Outside

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place while Frederick Chilton is in the hospital, recovering from being ‘kissed’ and burned by the Dragon. I don't own Hannibal but for over a year, it has owned me.

“I told you. You are privy to a great Becoming.” The Great Red Dragon leaned close to Frederick Chilton, gazed at him out of Francis Dolarhyde’s green eyes. He was no longer angry, just evincing a little boy’s wondering hurt at the blind rationality of adults and authority figures. “Don’t you want to be part of it?”

Part of Francis Dolarhyde’s delusion, that’s all it was. Frederick Chilton reminded himself, waking up to pain and being trapped in his own body. Delusions right now were looking entirely too attractive. 

Besides if Dr. Frederick Chilton was going to be perfectly honest with himself, there was a moment when he’d been tempted. Trapped, glued to that chair, a prisoner, once more at the mercy of a madman, perhaps there would have been freedom in the madness. Even belonging. 

Frederick was so tired of being on outside, being tricked by the exquisite opaque mirrors of Will Graham’s eyes, the equally opaque mask of Dr. Bloom’s lovely face. Both seemed reflections, offshoots of the devious, manipulative, and judgmental mind of Jack Crawford as much as Hannibal Lecter. 

Did Jack ever wonder at how much he and Hannibal were alike? If perhaps one of the reasons they enjoyed each other’s company, took delight in sparring with each other was this likeness. They also took delight in shaping their instruments into weapons which shot, stabbed, and deceived. 

Dr. Alana Bloom, Will Graham, and Miriam Lass were all such instruments. Were they all that different from the Great Red Dragon except in their level of development? 

Was he? Frederick Chilton had also been shaped by Hannibal Lecter and Jack Crawford, judged and found wanting by their tools. 

All because he was an outsider, a scapegoat, a pawn in their madness and manipulations. 

What would it be like to be on the inside? To be part of something? 

Francis Dolarhyde’s childlike question in a dream was the closest thing he’d received to an invitation. Only it was likely to be a trick, just like the other invitations. 

Frederick closed his eyes and felt that dull ache, one apart from the pain of his raw, damaged flesh, an ache which never seemed to leave.


End file.
